Runes of Magic US / AU

runesdatabase.com is your friend. Specifically: http://www.runesdatabase.com/skill/list/3#primary and http://www.runesdatabase.com/skill/list/3#general

Blind Spot *must* be used from behind, does one hit worth of damage, and doesn't do as much damage initially as Shadow Stab does. Shadow Stab also creates a bleed (DoT--damage over time) and can be used at any attacking angle.

I'd put my TP into Shadow Stab.

Quoted from "thebluefox;528238"

Hmm I see, seeing how shadow stab is 5 energy less and doesn't require target to face away from you, and does eventually get an ability (though at massive high level) to hit multiple targets, I think ill invest in it.

They both seem to do similar damage, and both appear to have a bleeding effect, guess ill do the one that's easier to perform

Actually blind spot does much more damage than shadowstab. It's about 780% dps vs 413% dps. Both produce the bleed effect for the low blow -> wound attack combo, but blind spot bleed is shorter so you need to apply it again before using wound attack again (shadowstab bleed is long enough that you can use wound attack twice with one bleed). Keep in mind though the energy consumption. I haven't played rogue long enough to know how to deal with that.

One last thing... The requirement to attack from behind is not too bad in most cases. Just run past the enemy and hit blind spot.

Lets put it this way. Rogues who maximize their DPS try to use blind spots as often as they can on boss fights. It is your single highest dps attack. I believe it is somewhere around 780% mainhand weapon dmg at lvl 70 and does give you the bleed you need for wound attack to hit three times.

Rogues who are lazy and don't want to maximize their dps use shadow stab. In contrast, it is your lowest dps skill you would use during a boss fight. I think maxed at 70 is somewhere around 380-400% main hand dmg. SS can be good for mob aoe's cause of the elite skill wraith attack but otherwise I would focus more on utilizing Blind spot on boss fights. More TP into blind spot.

Premed + blind spot can easily hit GCH/SC bosses for 1mil + for an end game stated r/s.

Furthermore, any end game tank will generally turn the boss away from the party cause RoM bosses love AOE's/frontal's. Our tanks do this and it makes using blind spot very easy. In conclusion, fail rogues use shadow stab while pro rogues use blind spot .

Quoted from "brogue;528243"

Furthermore, any end game tank will generally turn the boss away from the party cause RoM bosses love AOE's/frontal's. Our tanks do this and it makes using blind spot very easy. In conclusion, fail rogues use shadow stab while pro rogues use blind spot .

R/Ps can use both Blind Spot and Sneak Attack in combat due to the Shadow Walker elite, so if you ever wanna go P/S/R, for Iceblade Spam, you'll have a fun backstabber too .

Quoted from "brogue;528243"

Furthermore, any end game tank will generally turn the boss away from the party cause RoM bosses love AOE's/frontal's. Our tanks do this and it makes using blind spot very easy. In conclusion, fail rogues use shadow stab while pro rogues use blind spot .

Quoted from "brogue;528242"

Lets put it this way. Rogues who maximize their DPS try to use blind spots as often as they can on boss fights. It is your single highest dps attack. I believe it is somewhere around 780% mainhand weapon dmg at lvl 70 and does give you the bleed you need for wound attack to hit three times.

Rogues who are lazy and don't want to maximize their dps use shadow stab. In contrast, it is your lowest dps skill you would use during a boss fight. I think maxed at 70 is somewhere around 380-400% main hand dmg. SS can be good for mob aoe's cause of the elite skill wraith attack but otherwise I would focus more on utilizing Blind spot on boss fights. More TP into blind spot.

Premed + blind spot can easily hit GCH/SC bosses for 1mil + for an end game stated r/s.

invest into both skills. Use blind spot when you can, but if you cant get behind your boss, dont ever hesitate. go immidetaly to shadow stab. its more important to get one of the two off, rather than waste time trying to position yourself, but when you CAN use blind spot, it is a huge difference in damage output.

In a vacuum blindspot>shadowstab

Frankly in siege you want to hit as fast as possible and get back into hide asap. so whatever will kill your target quickest... if its a squishy aka sub 60k pdef il just use lowblow and 1 hit it (easy 130-180k crit) which is normaly enough to kill them. If its a /k druid or warden type then a full rotation might be needed and if its a p/k you might have to toss in a silence. in those cases i just ss lb WA. to much lag and porting in sw to worry about cant face target issues with blind spot. ESPECIALLY if the target is moving then dont even bother with blind spot in siege.

r/s also gets a elite buff to shadowstab that makes it hit 2 targets (2nd target is 50% hit) which is actually pretty decent making it more like a 600+% skill in pve.

level up shadowstab first and then just use TP you get to max out blindspot... honestly rogues are a very non TP intensive class (can max all important dps skills with 90m tp). a brand new character that just used quests and dailys during questing to hit 70 should have around 60m-65m TP. so yea its not hard to max out skills just remember to do dailys (fly is a great option if you cant buy dog meats) every day.

Yeah Berec is right, rogue is not a TP intensive class, and if I can give any advice if we have a double XP weekend do not quest on your primary. Use it to level your second or third but never your main. 70 mil TP is what it takes to properly max out your important skills.

As for shadowstab, I love using it on crowds in siege, I am able to get several people thanks to wraith attack, and yes against a high pdef character you will have to use your rotation.

The only time you absolutely should be using blind spot for max dps is when energy thief is up.

Is situational once energy thief is down.

Ill agree with berec on pvp aspect.

For siege I agree that Low Blow is better utilized then blind spot because of the fast one shot nature of pvp. I rarely use blind spot instead I replace it with sneak attack for siege, due to the stun.

As I said blind spot is really strictly for bosses. There are certain bosses where I wont use blind spot on, like the 4th boss in ToSH, because he moves so much, but all the other bosses I will start out with premed blind spot and I rarely have an issue. Even with the 2nd boss in ToSH I use blind spot because the AoE effect of Shadow stab can be problematic with any adds around. So I agree that it can be a situational skill. The dps for shadow stab is just so incredibly low though that I have made myself very proficient with BS.

Lemme rephrase or something.

If you are trying to optimize your rotation for maximum dps, the only time you 100% should be using blind spot is when energy thief is ticking.

At all other times it is situational and I will use shadowstab or blindspot based on certain factors.

I'm agreeing with you, just being a bit more focused about it.

ex) boss has a trillion hp, ill use blindspot without a doubt when ET is on, but not for the entire fight, but it depends on things like party composition.

It comes down to energy management to put it simply.

Quoted from "thebluefox;528328"

What about in PVP? I know it might be rare I do go into it, but do people have a hard time hitting enemies from behind in pvp?

In PVP it is easier to get behind your opponent than when hitting mobs. That's what Shadowstep is for. It puts you in back and the opponent has to consciously turn around, giving you plenty of time to get off a shot from behind. You can macro it if you want into a single command.

Quoted from "Grumpdaddy;533206"

In PVP it is easier to get behind your opponent than when hitting mobs. That's what Shadowstep is for. It puts you in back and the opponent has to consciously turn around, giving you plenty of time to get off a shot from behind. You can macro it if you want into a single command.

classic.

Keep it in your pants jiggly.

Quoted from "thebluefox;528328"

What about in PVP? I know it might be rare I do go into it, but do people have a hard time hitting enemies from behind in pvp?

It's easier to do in PvP than in PvE, since a person has to actually a) see you (Hide ftw!) and b) manually turn their toon around. Mobs have a computer brain that turns them.

I'll admit, when I get rogued in PvP, I candy (immune food), tab target and pray to god that I get them. I had one cheeky rogue do a little jig around me once, he must have seen how bad at turning my toon I am, and he was taunting me with his superior turning skills. Needless to say, I was thoroughly shanked, and I never did manage to target him.

You didn't say what level you are bluefox. You might want to put your tp in shadow stab now and wait to level blindspot for when you start running instances/hit level cap. You'll want both skills maxed once you start whaling on bosses.

Level all 5 skills in this order

Wound Attack
Low Blow
Blind Spot
Shadowstab
Sneak attack

Use sneak attack for pvp, only use shadowstab if you can't get behind the target. Ill only use shadowstab if i know blind spot won't be possible.